Fear of coronavirus, or the use of such fear being present among the people to justify expanding control, is driving decisions in much of American local, state, and national governments. Limiting international travel, prohibiting people from eating or drinking in restaurants and bars, imposing curfews, ordering “nonessential” businesses shut, and banning gatherings of more than a certain number of individuals are among the mandates governments have put in place in the name of fighting coronavirus.
This has all happened while extraordinary danger from coronavirus is not established and government actions being imposed, which carry health dangers of their own, tend not to be clearly helpful for countering what danger there may be from coronavirus.
However, not everyone in government is doing the coronavirus Chicken Little dance. United States House of Representatives member Thomas Massie (R-KY), who also is an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute, has been pretty much saying “hold on there guys” to fellow politicians who are rushing to disrespect the liberty of Americans in the name of countering coronavirus.
In a new video interview with host Duke Pesta at The New American, Massie strongly cautions against efforts to increase government power, and to restrict individuals’ exercise of liberty, in response to the virus du jour. Massie’s position contrasts with that of other politicians in Washington, DC. Among them, Massie declares in the interview, “there are almost no discussions about the limits of state and federal power.”
One may hope that once the coronavirus is dealt with the expanded powers of governments will fade away. Not so quick, counters Massie. Politicians have wished for some of these government power expansions for a long time, notes Massie. Many of such powers can be expected to continue on or to reemerge again and again, such as in successive flu seasons or in response to hurricanes.
Plus, comments Massie, “most of my colleagues are just ready to rubber-stamp any spending bill” purported to counter the threats from coronavirus. Continuing, Massie states:
They’re afraid of going back home and being blamed for this virus. You put any number in front of them — a hundred billion, a trillion, three trillion — they’re gonna vote for it.
Yet, Massie says in the interview that he is more worried about “the reckless trampling of constitutional rights” than he is about the reckless spending taking place in the name of reacting to a coronavirus threat. Massie explains that the entire population is being conditioned “to embrace a paternalistic government that can give or take any right away from you depending on if there is a crisis or not.” “Once you are conditioned to that,” concludes Massie, “you’ll let the government do anything.”
Watch Massie’s interview here:
For more of Massie’s thoughts concerning the coronavirus and governments’ actions taken in the name of countering it, watch his Thursday interview at the Ron Paul Liberty Report.
